Boxes made of coated sheet material



July 28, 1964 F. NOBLE 3,142,431

' BOXES 0F COATED SHEET MATERIAL Filed July 18. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1July 28, 1964 Filed July 18, 1961 F. W. NOBLE BOXES MADE OF COATED SHEETMATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent Office 3,142,431 PatentedJuly 28, 1964 BOXES MADE OF COATED SHEET MATERIAL Frank Webley Noble,Saltford, Bristol, England, assignor to E. S. 8: A. Robinson (Holdings)Limited, Bristol,

England, a company of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Filed July 18,1961, Ser. No. 124,921 2 Claims. (Cl. 229--23) This invention relates toboxes made of sheet material such as cardboard, paperboard, paper, film,metal foil or like material, either singly or in combination, which hasa protective coating.

Boxes and cartons made of coated sheet material for containing forexample perishable foodstuffs or liquids are known, but a box for suchpurposes presents a special problem because it is difiicult to preventleakage Where the seams of the box occur. The object of this inventionis to overcome this difficulty.

According to this invention we provide a box made of coated sheetmaterial wherein the side walls of the box comprise for at least part oftheir height two thicknesses or layers of coated material arranged withtheir coated surfaces face to face. Preferably the body of the box isformed from two blanks, one providing a main or bottom portion of thebody and the other providing the inner layer and neck of the walls ofthe body. The blank forming the said bottom portion comprises a bottompanel and attached side panels adapted to be bent at right angles to thebottom panel to form an outer layer of the walls, said outer layer beingcoated on the inside. The blank providing the inner layer of the wallsis a strip of coated material formed into a continuous band with thecoated surface facing outwards. The inner and outer layers are thenadhered together by heat and pressure. A lid is also provided which ismade from a blank of the same shape as the bottom portion of the body ofthe box.

The box made according to this invention may be made of thin cardboardcoated on one side with a heat sealable material which will render itmoisture resistant.

Two forms of such a box are illustrated in the drawings filed herewith,wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a box body and lid, the two beingseparated to show the construction,

FIGURE 2 is a blank from which the bottom portion of the body and lidare each separately formed,

FIGURE 3 is a blank from which the inner layer of the walls is formed,

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of a section taken through the completedbox with the thickness of the materials enlarged,

FIGURE 5 is a blank of a modified form of box where the body portion andlid are formed in one,

FIGURE 6 is a blank from which the inner layer of the walls is formed,

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the completed box in the openposition,

FIGURE 8 is a perspective View of the front of the box in the closedposition,

FIGURE 9 is a rear View of the box in the closed position, and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary view of one corner of the blank shown to anenlarged scale.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 4 of the drawing, the box comprises a body Aand a lid B. The body A is formed from a bottom portion, the blank ofwhich is shown in FIGURE 2, and a portion forming the inner layer of thewalls, the blank of which is shown in FIGURE 3. The bottom portioncomprises a bottom panel 4 and side panels 5 joined thereto by creaselines. Gussets 6 may be provided between adjacent panels 5. The innerlayer wall portion comprises four panels 7 each joined to the next by acrease line, one of the outer panels 7 having a sealing flap 8 for thepurpose of joining the panels 7 together into a continuous rectangularband. Each panel 7 has an attached outer panel 9 at each side, the edgesof the panels 9 being mitred at 10. The lid is formed from a blankidentical with that forming the bottom portion of the box, shown inFIGURE 2.

When the box body A is made up the bottom portion has the coating C onthe inside and the inner layer wall portion has the coating C on theoutside (see FIG- URE 4). The panels 5 are brought into a verticalposition on the outside of the panels 7, the arrangement being such thatone set of panels 9 rest on the bottom panel 4. In this condition thecontacting panels 5 and 7 and also the panels 4 and 9 are heat sealedtogether by heat and pressure. The upper part of the panels 7 projectabove the panels 5 to form a neck to receive the lid. The box body isthen ready for filling. When the body A has been filled, the lid B withthe coated surface inside is applied to the body A so that the wallpanels 5 of the lid B are in contact with the neck portion of the panels7 and the coated surface of the panel 4 of the lid B is in contact withthe top panels 9 which are bent into a horizontal position. On theapplication of heat and pressure the contacting surfaces of the bodyportion A and lid B are adhered together making a particularly moistureresistant protective box.

The body portion A is formed and sealed on an automatic machine betweenco-operating dies, and after filling the lid is applied and sealedautomatically.

In order to simplify the final sealing operation, the lid B may beformed with an upstanding peripheral bead which is returned to form thepanels 5. In this case the top panels 9 are omitted and the upper edgesof the panels 7 are gripped and sealed between the two opposed portionsof the said peripheral bead.

According to a modification, instead of making the peripheral edges ofthe sides 5 of the bottom portion and lid butt jointed, each partterminates in an outturned horizontal flange. During the sealingoperation the two said flanges are heat sealed together.

According to a further modification, the side panels 5 of the bottomportion form the inner layer of the walls and the panels 7 the outerlayer. In this case the bottom portion has the coating on the outsideand the panels 7 have the coating on the inside. The panels 5 of thebottom portion extend to the top of the box and terminatein an in-turnedflange. The top flaps 9 of the panels 7 are out-turned and the lid is afiat panel, the area of which is slightly greater than that of thebottom to provide a peripheral flange for sealing to the top flaps 9.

Referring now to the modification shown in FIG- URES 5 to 10, the lid ofthe box is hinged to the body. The blank shown in FIGURE 5 comprises abottom panel 20 and a top panel 21 having a common rear panel 22, thebottom panel 20 having a front wall panel 23 and side wall panels 24 andthe top panel 21 having a front wall panel 25 and side Wall panels 26.

Referring to FIGURE 6, the blank forming the inner layer of the wallsand neck comprises a front panel 27, two side panels 28 and two rearpanels 29. The panels 27 and 28 each have an attached panel 30 at oneside.

The box is set up in a similar manner to that described with referenceto FIGURES 1 to 4, but instead of the flap 8 being secured to the endstrip 7, the two ends 29 are butt jointed. The box shown in FIGURE 7 isready for filling and after filling the sides 25 and 26 are heat sealedto the panels 27 and 28 respectively, and the panels 30 are heat sealedto the top panel 21 of the lid.

In this construction the gussets 6 of FIGURES 1 to 4 are dispensed withand replaced by the very small web portions 31.

If it is desired to evacuate the air from the filled box and possibly toreplace it with nitrogen, means are provided for sealing down the lidexcept for a small area which is used for the evacuation and subsequentgas inlet, this area being afterwards sealed.

Instead of making the box in the same sheet material throughout, two orthree different materials can be used, for example the body portion 2can be made of coated cardboard as described and the lid B can be madeof transparent film material or the bottom portion and lid can be madeof metal foil and the inner layer of the walls can be made of coatedcardboard. In some cases the inner and outer portions are both made ofthe same class of material in different thicknesses.

The term coated sheet material used in the specification is intended tocover the case Where the sheet material has applied to it a protectivelayer by spraying, rolling or other means and also where such layer isapplied as a lamination of the said sheet material.

Instead of a heat scalable coating, the coating may be of the kind whichis pressure sensitive, for example latex and instead of being onlymoisture resistant, the coating can be moisture and/or grease resistantand/or gas resistant depending on the particular protection required.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A box made of coated heat scalable sheet material comprising (a) acombined body and lid having a common side wall panel, said body and lideach having three additional side wall panels which become outer wallpanels of the box, the wall panels of said combined body and lid havingthe heat scalable coated surface facing inwards, and (b) a strip ofmaterial forming inner wall panels, said strip having a heat sealablesurface facing outwards; the outer wall panels of the body being heatsealed to the lower part of the said strip which serves to hold thewalls of the body in the set up position, the remaining portion of thesaid strip forming the neck to which the three outer wall panels of thelid are heat sealed after the box has been filled; each of said threeouter wall panels of the body abuts the respective outer wall panel ofthe lid, and together form substantially the entire outer surface of thewall panels of the sealed box.

2. The box of claim 1, wherein the strip forming the inner wall panelshas a flange of heat scalable coated material along the upper edge ofthree wall panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS385,726 Reynolds July 10, 1888 1,521,846 Tyer Jan. 6, 1925 1,693,435Clarke -a Nov. 27, 1928 1,922,571 Deline Aug, 15, 1933 2,106,663Schlegel Jan. 25, 1938 2,149,720 Becker Mar. 7, 1939 2,207,428Bezzenberger July 9, 1940 2,317,884 Clouston Apr. 27, 1943 2,536,442Guyer Jan. 2, 1951 2,634,857 Weckesser Apr. 14, 1953 2,807,401 SmithSept. 24, 1957 2,996,236 Barr Aug. 15, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 397,226France Feb. 18, 1909

1. A BOX MADE OF COATED HEAT SEALABLE SHEET MATERIAL COMPRISING (A) ACOMBINED BODY AND LID HAVING A COMMON SIDE WALL PANEL, SAID BODY AND LIDEACH HAVING THREE ADDITIONAL SIDE WALL PANELS WHICH BECOME OUTER WALLPANELS OF THE BOX, THE WALL PANELS OF SAID COMBINED BODY AND LID HAVINGTHE HEAT SEALABLE COATED SURFACE FACING INWARDS, AND (B) A STRIP OFMATERIAL FORMING INNER WALL PANELS, SAID STRIP HAVING A HEAT SEALABLESURFACE FACING OUTWARDS; THE OUTER WALL PANELS OF THE BODY BEING HEATSEALED TO THE LOWER PART OF THE SAID STRIP WHICH SERVES TO HOLD THEWALLS OF THE BODY IN THE SET UP POSITION, THE REMAINING PORTION OF THESAID STRIP FORMING THE NECK TO WHICH THE THREE OUTER WALL PANELS OF THELID ARE HEAT SEALED AFTER THE BOX HAS BEEN FILLED; EACH OF SAID THREEOUTER WALL PANELS OF THE BODY ABUTS THE RESPECTIVE OUTER WALL PANEL OFTHE LID, AND TOGETHER FORM SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE OUTER SURFACE OF THEWALL PANELS OF THE SEALED BOX.